Serie A

It was Wednesday September 16th, the Champions League took center stage in the football world, and a certain game was at the top. Messi and his Barcelona teammates arrived in Rome to take on Francesco Totti and his Roma side. Last season in the UCL we saw Bayern Munich travel to Rome and tear apart Rudi Garcia's men. A 7-1 loss at the Olimpico stunned the Giallorossi faithful and that game goes down as one of Roma's worst, if not Roma's worst ever. Fast forward a year later, a stronger Roma side (on paper) looked to prove to everyone that last year was just an off day. Roma with a chance to erase the 7-1 loss said Italian legend Paolo Rossi. Well did they? Barcelona came in as heavy favorites no doubt, but Rudi Garcia knew he had to have a tactical plan set up. Roma frustrated the current Champions League holders to a 1-1 draw. An historic and unforgettable night at the Olimpico, for sure. It started off well for Roma, in the first 15 minutes or so they worked some good counters from the likes of Salah and Dzeko and looked really tight and organized defensively. But then Luis Suarez at the 21st minute scored to put the champions in the lead. It only took roughly 10 minutes for Roma to answer and what a way they did. One of the best goals we'll ever see from Alessandro Florenzi leveled the game. Everybody at that moment knew history was made. The Olimpico exploded. Florenzi put his hands to his face in disbelief (me? I was running around my house!). Emotion was sky high in the Olimpico as Roma had done what some would have thought was the unthinkable, level with Barcelona. It was a moment to savior, it didn't matter if you were a Roma fan, a Juve fan or a Barca fan, it was the type of goal you idolize. After that Roma woke up again, Barca gave it their all but Garcia's men didn't give up, they fought all match, worked their asses off and the match ended 1-1. Without a doubt a fair result for the Giallorossi. Barcelona will go home with their heads down as they were left disappointed. But Roma? They left with a growth of confidence. I mean, it's not everyday you get to say you kept up and stopped the worlds best, and stop the world’s best player in Messi. For Roma this truly was a making up for the Bayern loss. Roma have set themselves on a good pace for this year’s UCL, with fantastic results from Garcia and Roma such as a win over Juve and a draw vs. Barcelona, could this be Roma's year? It took a moment of brilliance from one of Roma's own, a moment that will go down in Champions League history, a goal that no Roma fan will ever forget. So Florenzi, take a bow son, you had just scored one of greatest and biggest ever goals in Roma history, your living a Romanisti's dream.